What Are You The Most Picky About? ..

[equusvilla]

(Other than basic health care)...When it comes to your horses.

For me - the first thing that comes to mind is turnout of my horse at a horse show. Many of the shows I go to are multi breed and it is really interesting to me what is acceptable for one breed - can be so different for another. I am uber picky that my horse & tack are spotless and my habit is presentable as well.

List of what I have seen:
Riders with habits that do not come close to fitting.
Obviously dirty horses, tack and clothes
Hair flying out from under a hat.
Unshaved horses that look like they have Cushings disease in Fall and Winter!
...and one of the worst..a rider flying around the ring with thier coat unbuttoned and flying behind her like a flag!

...okay - am I a snob? I just cannot imagine spending so much time preparing for a show..only to show up like that.

[RedTahoe]

1. People that don't Keep the barn area safe (picking up trash, putting back leads, etc. where they were found, etc.)

2. Riders that think they are better than they are.

3. Someone not closing the gate behind them (entering a pasture with other horses to turn out their house, and only half closing the gate while un-haltering or have a foot looped over the rail of the gate to "keep it shut" while un-haltering).

4. White/light breeches with dark or printed undies showing through.

5. People "borrowing" tack and not asking or asking and then not putting back correctly or putting back dirty.

6. Bridles that are too tight on horses. Bits that are too large on horses.

[Jaegermonster]

NO CLUTTER IN MY BARN I like things to be tidy, blankets hung neatly not just tossed over the gate, stuff like that. Also my feed/tack room. I like things neat.

I agree, untidyness while riding bugs me. If I am going to be seen in public I will have on a hair net, things will be neat and clean and my horse will be presentable. I also don't like the unbuttoned coat thing. Get a coat that fits! Also don't like short sleeved show shirts at all, they look like crap. I have ridden and shown my whole life in FL, mostly in S FL so I don't want to hear how hot it is.

Poop left in aisleways and stalls. I have no black flies at my place, and the reason is that I am very particular about my stalls and pastures.

[WBLover]

Clean water buckets. I dump, scrub, and refill water buckets EVERY time. There's nothing that bothers me more than someone topping off a dirty water bucket. I'm anal to a fault about it.

Oh, and just as anal about clean stalls. If I could stay in their stalls with them all day to pick up every poop and muck out every pee right after it happens, I would. Of course I only have 2 horses, so if I had more I'm sure I'd have to be a bit less picky.

[Penthilisea]

I am picky about folks who put aesthetics above care. If the farm is safe I don't care if the barn is purple! If my horse is in good weight and well kept but dusty , I will be happier then if he is shiny and skinny or lame.

The nicest equipment in the world won't fix bad care.

[BuddyRoo]

Available clean water. Turnout. Safe facilities (fencing, no nails sticking out, etc) Good hay.

Beyond that I can live with just about everything else.

[Thomas_1]

Daily thorough hoof picking.

Clean drinking and food recepticles

Bitting in particular but really all tack and harness fit.

Neurotic about heavy handed riders yanking a horse's face off.

Rugged horses left rugged for days without checking.

Clipping horses because the owner is too lazy to groom the horse ..... and so they rug it and leave it.

I don't give a flying fig how a rider is dressed

[manyspots]

1) Adequate and safe turnout

2) Consistent meals

3) Good quality hay

4) Swept aisles

5) Clean stalls with mats

6) Well maintained gates and doorways

All the reasons (and many more) why I brought my guys home!

[IsolaBella09]

At a show a few weeks ago, I saw a girl going aroung a Mini Prix with Grand Prix and Olympic riders with her entire show shirt untucked out of her britches. Every time she went over a fence, you could see her entire shirt flapping in the wind. I thought it looked very unprofessional, especially for a Mini Prix. Not my cup of tea.

Bad clip jobs really irk me also.

[sublimequine]

I am picky about folks who put aesthetics above care. If the farm is safe I don't care if the barn is purple! If my horse is in good weight and well kept but dusty , I will be happier then if he is shiny and skinny or lame.

The nicest equipment in the world won't fix bad care.

WELL SAID. I can't say how many beautiful barns I've seen that the care is just CRAP. I don't care how nicely manicured the lawn is, or how pristine the barn looks.. the horses are miserable! :dead:

[JSwan]

Clean, neat and tidy barn.

Clean, neat and tidy feed room.

Clean, neat and tidy tack - which is properly maintained and stored.

Clean, neat and tidy premises.

Good pasture/forage (as local climate allows)

Adequate fencing that is well maintained.

For showing -

Clean, neat and tidy horse.

Clean, neat and tidy rider.

Rider and horse prepared for the level in which they are competing.

Good sportsmanship and rules of fair play observed by rider.

Good horsemanship exhibited by rider.


None of the above means anything has to be horribly expensive or fancy. No expensive/trendy stuff needed. Fancy barn not necessary.

Good horsemanship. That's all. Applies equally across disciplines, at every level, and is applicable to a 70K horse as well as a 300$ auction reject. Fancy barn, modest shed row - or nothing but a run in.

Good horsemanship.

[county]

Keeping horses on large tracts of land theres no such thing as to big of a pasture we have 180 acres of pastures and just signed a lease for another 36. I've never read any reserch yet that says its best to keep normal healthy horses in stalls or paddocks all year.

[Chief2]

Few things tick me off, but I have a few that still do:

Boarders who buy new tack, new blankets, show regularly, eat out in fancy restaurants, fly off to the islands in the winter and don't pay their board bills.

Folks who know weeks in advance about an on-farm vaccination clinic with a popular vet, deliberately don't sign up so they won't be included in splitting the farm call, lurk around the aisles throughout the clinic, wait until the last scheduled horse has been seen and the farm call has been paid, and then show up in the aisle with their horse and ask the vet to vaccinate it. I can't tell you how many times I got nailed by this crap. Finally wised up and now only schedule private vaccination/wellness exams with my vet.

Folks who pour clean water on top of dirty water in buckets, or don't clean out the troughs until there are foot-long seaweeds growing up off the heater coils because they just don't want to do the cleaning. Ee-yuck!

[asb2517]

At shows:

Making sure numbers are secure...I HATE numbers that are crooked and/or flopping!

Clean hooves...no matter how muddy the ring is...when they come out of the barn - their feet better look good.

Tails - again...no matter how muddy the ring is...I don't like to do "mud tails"

[snkstacres]

All of the above. In a nutshell, I am anal. I try and tell people not to be offended if I got over stalls behind them, I dont mean to be rude. My standards are unrealistic but I only expect them of myself. If water is not clean enough for me to drink when I fill up, then its not clean enough for them either. Why leave any poop in a stall if you are cleaning anyhow. Of course I pick up the paddocks, doesnt everyone.

Yup, I am anal.

[Lambie Boat]

footing

good hay

clean water

happy horses

the music on the radio

[Foxtrot's]

My horses don't seem to mind if the barn is old or not so fancy. They do like shelter, from heat and cold and rain, clean water, quality feed, correct foot and vet care, room to move around, a friend to rub nuzzle in the same paddock, and somewhere to roll - surprising how many horses live in a stall and are turned out into a teeny paddock with hard footing and are unable to roll, buck, play, etc. Obviously there's more - we do try.

[Nes]

Horses turned out with wet saddle marks - it makes me want to SCREAM!

[goeslikestink]

Daily thorough hoof picking.

Clean drinking and food recepticles

Bitting in particular but really all tack and harness fit.

Neurotic about heavy handed riders yanking a horse's face off.

Rugged horses left rugged for days without checking.

Clipping horses because the owner is too lazy to groom the horse ..... and so they rug it and leave it.

I don't give a flying fig how a rider is dressed

all of those plus pooh picking - i am obcessed with pooh picking
my fields are done every day

[Thomas_1]

^ I just rotate fields and harrow.

[hitchinmygetalong]

Open gate.
Close gate.

Open gate.
Close gate.

Open gate.
Close gate.

Note: There is no open gate.... leave it open.

Call me anal, but even if there are no horses in the paddock, I still close the gate.

Open gate.
Close gate.

Repeat and rinse.

[OkLurchers]

WBLover--if I didn't know better I would think you were me. My water buckets have to be clean enough for me to drink or they're not good enough & I HAVE to give fresh. I was always anal about it, but when my toddler son (many years ago) had a tendency to drink from the horses' buckets I went to mach 10 on it.
I've been known to pick an errant pile of poop out in high heels & once or twice in black tie (very carefully!).
I'm also anal about blankets/sheets being hung properly. Can't stand a horse outfit left on ground!

[OkLurchers]

Oh yeah, saddle marks maker my pony club alumni self nuts. I also have to clean feed tubs daily--doesn't everyone??

[kahjul]

Anything left in the barn aisle or grooming slips. The barn where I am at now does this and if my horse were kept in the barn I think I would lose my mind. Luckily, she's kept outside and the grooming slips are clean!

[Alpha Mare]

out and about the county I sometimes see the Amish buggies - in March I thought, ok, it's the end of winter, that's why they're skinny.

Well, it's May now. all the saddle horses are wearing muzzles to keep them sound on rich grass (we just had a lot of rain last few weeks and grass is really growing), and I saw 3 buggies today, each one I couldn't count the ribs (more than 8) showing as I drove past. And one was bobbing his head.

So, not something I can control but I am so sad to see it.

For riding horses, what bugs me is the harsh bits (slow twist, double wire twist) hanging in the tack room. Including 1 noseband with (rounded) metal on the inside.

Yes, I care about clean horse, clean and neat tack, presentation at shows. And good care - food, clean water, regular and decent turnout. they are a little higher on Maslow's hierarchy though

[sid]

Feed and hay that is fresh and stored properly -- and suitable for the individual horse, whatever that entails.

Fresh, clean and accessible water 24/7.

Max and safe turnout -- stalled no more than 6 hrs a day on a regular basis, unless it is a layup.

A "once over" twice a day for each horse - to check for subtle injuries that may actually progress to big problems if not caught early.

Preventative care -- appropriate deworming and vaccination protocals.

Neat and clean barn/stalls (no ammonia.) with appropriate bedding. Swept and dusted tackroom and feedroom... No cobwebs, no dust.

Swept aisles, safe electrical wiring (no extension cords or box fans).

Proper hay storage.

Sturdy stall walls/bars and fencing -- with no protuberances that can injure. That includes a clean, bare aisle with nothing in the way that a horse being moved can run into (no forks, no wheelbarrows, no tack trucks -- nada).

Well-maintained pastures with noxious weeds controlled.

All tack in good working order and cleaned after every use. Bits washed.

Great vet, farrier and dentist.

If there is an arena...good footing that is maintained well.

Not in order of preference. All of this at all times.

As JSwan said...just good horsemanship.

[county]

Overweight horses, its just as abusive to over feed as under feed. For what ever reason/s people just don't care about it though all 3 of my vets say they'd much rather see a horse 15% underweight then one 15% overweight health wise.

[ksetrider]

Dirty bits. I always, always, always clean the bit after riding. I usually clean the bridle too, but in the rare cases I just have time to do a quick wipe I always scrub down the bit. I would never drink my next day's glass of morning OJ out of yesterday's glass (think pulp dried to the glass. LOL). So, I would never put a bit dried with crusty grass and saliva in my guy's mouth.